Jack drove them to a nearby IHOP, which was busier than he expected on a weekday morning. The waitress handed them menus and filled their coffee cups before leaving them to think about what they wanted to order. Jack watched as one of Sam's tails took a booth cattycorner from them. They both ordered pancakes. Jack got his with an omelet and Sam ordered scrambled eggs.

They made more small talk as they ate, avoiding any mention of her abduction or what had happened to her in the months she had been missing. She had trouble paying attention to him as her mind tried to process the false memories that had been fed to her and the weeks spent in captivity. Jack reached across the table and laid his hand over hers as her mind wandered again. She flinched at his touch, so he moved his hand away.

"You ok?"

She gave him a tight fake smile. "Of course." She reached back out, wrapping her fingers around his palm. "Just wondering what adventures you have planned for us today."

"I like to be a man of mystery." She knew he didn't want to be overheard. "You'll see." The waitress appeared with their food. "Now eat up so you'll have energy for a day of fun."

"Yes, sir." Their eyes connected after she said it. She hadn't intended to remind them both of their shared history. It had just popped out.

Jack carried the conversation while they ate, unusual for him but he realized she wasn't up to it. She played with her food and didn't eat nearly enough but Jack decided now wasn't the time to push the issue. They'd made a good show for their audience and now he wanted time with her alone. He paid and left a decent tip. Sam scanned the room as they left, surprised to see her across the hall neighbor in a booth with her toddler. It could be chance that they ended up at the same IHOP for breakfast but Sam doubted it. She was flabbergasted that a women would bring her child on a stakeout, even if it did help her blend.

Sam barely paid attention to where they were driving. Jack was weaving in and out of traffic, doubling back, making multiple U-turns, and basically driving erratically. She trusted that he knew how to lose whoever was following them.

Although Jack was paying close attention to the traffic and the two cars attempting to follow them, he was also watching Sam. Her right thumb was obsessively rubbing the nailbed of her left thumb, her tell when she was upset or nervous. Her eyes flitted between the side view mirror, the front window, and the side window but she didn't really seem to be paying attention, which bothered Jack. It wasn't like Sam to not be assessing her surroundings and making a plan. Jack drove a circuitous route for twenty minutes after losing both cars and then headed to their real destination.

Sam perked up as they pulled into the parking lot. "The Zoo?"

"The San Diego Zoo is world famous."

"And big and open so there's not a great chance of audio surveillance."

"That too." Jack led her to the ticket booth and bought them both day passes. Holding hands wasn't practical, in case they were attacked, but extended his elbow and was pleased when she curled her hand around his lower bicep. They walked for several minutes before breaking away from the small crowd at the entrance. "Ready to tell me what's been going on the last few months?"

"Months."

He reached across his body and patted the hand holding his arm. "It's been six months since they took you."

Sam gasped. She knew it had been a while, but she had lost track of how long while they were torturing her. "I've been Laura for about three months."

"And before that?"

Sam held back the tears, but Jack saw the shimmer in her eyes. She shook her head, refusing to make eye contact as her chest burned. If she'd spent three months as Laura that meant she had also spent three months in that dark cell being subjected to the whims of her captors. Three months of electroshocks, waterboarding, whipping, starvation, dehydration, freezing, and isolation. A shiver ran through her. She felt Jack tighten his grip on her hand. "It was bad."

"Do you know who took you?"

Sam shook her head. "There were several men involved in my captivity but…" Her head tilted as the memories raced through her mind. "There was one voice who seemed to give most of the orders."

"A voice you recognize?"

Sam shook her head again. "No, but if I heard it again, I would recognize it."

"Well, that's something."

"It's not enough."

"Sam?" He watched the tension lines in her face deepen. "What were they after?"

"They asked a lot about the new engine upgrades and ship designs."

"That wasn't what they had Laura working on though."

Sam's eyes widened. "Actually, they did."

"What?"

"At first, I was helping with some unrelated projects, probably to ease me in and see if the memories they had implanted worked, but for the last few weeks I've been working on theoretical engine models, only they aren't really theoretical. I've been telling them just what they wanted to know."

Jack stopped at an overlook and pulled her against him. "Not your fault."

"If we don't stop them they will do this again, to me or to one of the other scientists."

"What do you suggest?"

"I have to keep gathering intel."

"Not a chance." Jack's eyes narrowed as he shook his head. "They have to know who I am by now."

"That doesn't mean they know I know who I am."

"Sam, they'll know I am here to bring you back."

"Then they need to think you failed."